Advocacy & Safety - Kids without helmets

Just came back from riding a pretty popular trail at Ohiopyle (30 miles or so). I was at a pretty good clip going maybe 30 MPH, so I was passing alot of people. During this hour ride, I passed no less than 40 families. I couldn't help but notice that almost none of the kids in these families were wearing helmets...in PA, anyone under 13 MUST wear a helmet. Next time I ride this trail, should I stop and let the families know of this law?

Yeah, do that. People love it when complete strangers come up and tell them what to do.

It's a national stupidity issue. lol Most communities and/or states have a regulation that kids under the age of 14, 16, or whatever MUST wear helmets. The problem? No one ENFORCES it.

Police have better things to do. Parents either don't care, don't know, or their words fall on deaf ears. And most kids just think parents are being overprotective (IF their parents actually TRY to get them to wear helmets). Believe me, I even have to struggle with my two (my son has been wearing a helmet since he was 20 months old, my daughter since she was 3 months old) to get them to wear their helmets. ~~Bren

You're right that this is a stupidity issue that noone enforces, and I wear my helmut during every bike ride. I have in fact though, made the stupid mistake of riding my dirt bike without a helmut and should thank my lucky stars that I haven't ate it yet. The reason I haven't been using a helmut on my motorbike is cuz I can't seem to find it amidst all the stuff we moved out of the house to do remodeling. Yes I know it's a stupid reason and wish I could kick myself for doing it. PUUUUUUUULEASE do let people know of the helmut law because I can think of more than one occasion when a helmut has protected my from head injury (though they wouldn't have been much of nothing, but no injury is better than even a small one).

Just as bad are parents who tell their kids to wear helmets (because it's the law), but who do not wear helmets themselves. What kind of example does that set?

It's a little more complicated than the old politically-incorrect adage, "It's OK for an adult to go helmetless because he's an idiot, but it's not OK for Junior to be an idiot because he didn't wear a helmet."

Two personal pet peeves.

1. Parents riding with little tots in one of those trailer thingies without putting a helmet on the kid. Like that mesh cage is really going to protect the kid's head.

2. Parents riding without helmets while their kids are wearing one. So, if the parent crashes, this 12-year-old kid is going to spend the rest of their life taking care of their brain-dead parent. Nice.

I think I convinced a guy at my LBS to wear a helmet. I batted my eyelashes at him and told him that girls don't make passes at guys in comas.

Edit: My boyfriend, when I first started riding, told me that the lastest Playboy survey said that brain-dead girls are a definite turn-off. Bought my first helmet that day! It works both ways!

I think I convinced a guy at my LBS to wear a helmet. I batted my eyelashes at him and told him that girls don't make passes at guys in comas.

nice :D

it would certainly work on me if i didn't wear a helmut (which i do), cuz chics dig scars (and helmuts)

FYI -- I do wear my helmet, too. :o) And when I see kids wearing helmets, I try to give them encouragement and tell them "Way to use your head!" :o) ~~Bren

Next time I ride this trail, should I stop and let the families know of this law?

You're better off just letting the cops know what's going on. I've tried reasoning with idiots in the past -- it's a futile pursuit. Considerably more pointless than p!ssing into the wind.

You know, for all this talk about helmet wearing, I notice that nobody has brought up the issue of wearing a helmet properly. Here in Australia there is a mandatory helmet law (although laws are rarely enforced on the Gold Coast). However, it's all pretty pointless if someone is wearing a helmet overly loosely because "it might mess up my hair".

I was going to say that I find helmet hair a turn-on. However, that would probably just scare females away from wearing helmets.

Yeah I know what you mean. On the way to the trailhead near my house I saw a bunch of kids on bikes and scooters going around the cul-de-sac. One of the kids on one of those little scooters just fell right over and slid to a stop infront of me. After I asked him if he was okay (he was) I said nice and loud that he should wear a helmet, so that the group of adults sitting on the porch across the cul-de-sac could hear :p

Have you ridden these scooters? The ones with roller blade wheels. They are twitchy as &#%$. I don't see how anyone let alone a little kid can ride those and not wreck every 20 feet.

why do you care?

why do you care?

Basic human nature -- people just luuuuuve to tell other people what to do.

Like Chris L said, it's a futile pursuit. I used to try but more often than not I got a "F*** off kid, it's none of your business!" from the couples with no kids.

The people with kids are generally a bit more polite as they don't want their children to hear that kind of language.

Sometimes if I see a family riding without helmets I just wave then tap my helmet. I don't know if they are getting the message but I usually get some sort of reaction from them.

You covered 30 miles in an hour? Very impressive. Seeing as how Tyler Hamilton won the Olympic TT gold with an average speed of 50.060kph or 31.1 mph. And he was doping, apparently.

Anyway, I'm as pro-helmet as they come, but I can't say I'd be all that receptive to a lecture from somebody riding 30mph on a trail full of young kids. But that's just me.

Kids don't wear helmet because all the cheap kid helmets look ugly. Give them a helmet with lots of vents likes the ones that racers use and they'll love it.

Give them a helmet with lots of vents likes the ones that racers use and they'll love it.

Better yet, give them a helmet that has satanism, radical politics or heavy metal painted on the shell. The helmet to which the parent says "I'm not having you go outside in that!" is the one the kid will wear everytime.

Basic human nature -- people just luuuuuve to tell other people what to do.

That's the point really. I don't wear a helmet because cycling is not that dangerous--we should be wearing helmets into the bathroom, since more fatal head injuries occurred in the bathroom last year than cycling. It's all about fear, and you're perpetuating it. Cycling would be an excellent alternative transportation: it's exercise, it saves energy, it's fun, but people have come to believe this propaganda that it's dangerous. It's not. If darling little Virginia needs to be protected, put a helmet on her as soon as she wakes up. Oh, and by the way, helmet-wearing doesn't prevent accidents, following the rules of the road does.

This has to do with the topic but it sure as hell scares me.

I ride DH so I wear a fullface helmet pretty often. Any way, on the way to the DH track I was wearing my fullface helmet and WAS riding on the road. Well a cop asked me to stop and when I asked why, he said something like, "that helmet your wearing is dangerous as it wrap all the way around your hed and lowers your peripheral vision." I said that it is exactly like a MX helmet therefore gives me more protection, the way it's designed I don't loose any peripheral vision and lastly I can see better out of this helmet than most people on motor bikes. He then said that he didn't care and that I was in the wrong and told me not to do it again or I could get fined (which I highly doubt is possible).

This really scares me as a cop actually said it was dangerous I was wearing a helmet.

BTW I still wear this helmet anyway without any other problems.

You covered 30 miles in an hour? Very impressive. Seeing as how Tyler Hamilton won the Olympic TT gold with an average speed of 50.060kph or 31.1 mph. And he was doping, apparently.

Anyway, I'm as pro-helmet as they come, but I can't say I'd be all that receptive to a lecture from somebody riding 30mph on a trail full of young kids. But that's just me.

No, it was 30 miles round trip...15 miles a way. I'm not that super :rolleyes:

I've had kids tell me it's uncool to wear a helmet...how do you get by that?

just tell them a story about a guy you know who crashed without a helmet and now is in a coma or lost his eyesight or something, make it up.

Just as bad are parents who tell their kids to wear helmets (because it's the law), but who do not wear helmets themselves. What kind of example does that set?

Exactly. Similarly, I talk to people sometimes that say they don't force their kids to buckle up because the kids have a fit and complain, or they don't like helmets because they're not cool.

My kids have NEVER seen either of their parents in a car out of a driveway without seat belts. They've NEVER seen either of their parents riding a bike without a helmet. They've never ridden in a car without wearing belts, they've never ridden a bike without a helmet. It is NOT an option. The car will not move until everyone is buckled up. If you won't wear a helmet, I'm damn well selling your bike and you can walk. We'll see how "cool" that is. Way cooler than lying in a coma.

Know what? They have never complained ONCE about buckling up or wearing helmets. In fact, my 7 year old yelled at me for riding up and down the paved driveway helmetless while testing my brake adjustment earlier this year.

Kids are all about exploring limits. If they detect that you might budge on an issue, they'll never leave you alone on it. Once they realize that there is absolutely NO wiggle room in a rule, they'll find something else to bug you about.

All that said, I won't tell anyone else what to do. I weep for the kids (often literally, when I hear of a tragedy on the radio) but I figure leading by example is the best way. Occasionally I'll have a kid ask me about wearing a helmet. I generally say something along the lines of "I kind of like my brains, and feel they're worth protecting. If you don't think they're worth protecting, then riding without a helmet is OK, I guess."

That's the point really. I don't wear a helmet because cycling is not that dangerous--we should be wearing helmets into the bathroom, since more fatal head injuries occurred in the bathroom last year than cycling. It's all about fear, and you're perpetuating it. Cycling would be an excellent alternative transportation: it's exercise, it saves energy, it's fun, but people have come to believe this propaganda that it's dangerous. It's not. If darling little Virginia needs to be protected, put a helmet on her as soon as she wakes up. Oh, and by the way, helmet-wearing doesn't prevent accidents, following the rules of the road does.



heh heh...good reply!
It's really none of our business if anyone else wears a helmet or not.

Start 'em young.
My 20 month-old daughter brings me her helmet and shouts "Bike! Bike!" when she wants me to take her out for a ride.

It's also getting increasingly difficult to get her to take the d@mn thing off when we get back :-)

heh heh...good reply!
It's really none of our business if anyone else wears a helmet or not.

It is our business if that person is injuried and we have to pay for their medical care through higher insurance rates and/or high taxes. If they want to sign a wavier that any injuries sustained because of the lack of a helmet will be paid out of their own pocket, fine my me, don't wear a helmet.

What ChrisL said. No point telling peeps to wear their helmets. Even when you get down to the couple or so kids that actually wear their helmets, a great majority of those aren't wearing it properly. Wearing a helmet properly doesn't 'just happen'. I highly doubt it would 'just happen' for kids whos parents have no clue either.

The only real time I see kids with properly adjusted helmets is when they're with their parents who are obviously "real" cyclists.

It is our business if that person is injuried and we have to pay for their medical care through higher insurance rates and/or high taxes. If they want to sign a wavier that any injuries sustained because of the lack of a helmet will be paid out of their own pocket, fine my me, don't wear a helmet.


So you should go around flicking cigarettes out of people's mouths and ripping whoppers out of a fat person's paws and stomping on them? The idea that some bicyclist not wearing a helmet is costing YOU money is utterly ridiculous.

What ChrisL said. No point telling peeps to wear their helmets. Even when you get down to the couple or so kids that actually wear their helmets, a great majority of those aren't wearing it properly. Wearing a helmet properly doesn't 'just happen'. I highly doubt it would 'just happen' for kids whos parents have no clue either.

The only real time I see kids with properly adjusted helmets is when they're with their parents who are obviously "real" cyclists.

I saw someone wearing a helmet backwards once....pretty funny :rolleyes:

The idea that some bicyclist not wearing a helmet is costing YOU money is utterly ridiculous.

Getting people on bikes saves money for everyone. It would never happen, but to illustrate a point, could you imagine how much overall public health would improve if everyone rode bikes instead of drove cars? Could you imagine no deaths or injuries from automobiles? Every person on a bike is a public benefit weather they wear a helmet or not.

Just as bad are parents who tell their kids to wear helmets (because it's the law), but who do not wear helmets themselves. What kind of example does that set?

Then I guess as long as we tell our kids that they can't have a beer with dinner becasue it's against the law then neither should we
:rolleyes:

Getting people on bikes saves money for everyone. It would never happen, but to illustrate a point, could you imagine how much overall public health would improve if everyone rode bikes instead of drove cars? Could you imagine no deaths or injuries from automobiles? Every person on a bike is a public benefit weather they wear a helmet or not.

speaking of "weather"
Sure it would be nice, but it can't happen.
Aunt Ethel can't go anywhere in January in the dark when it's 20 below, and I sure as heck don't want to ride my bike to work in that weather either, we don't all live in cities, and I don't want to. Think of how much health could be raised even if people DROVE to the gym 4 days a week and really worked out. I do like where you say whether they wear a helmet or not though. Cars aren't the enemy, we just need fuel efficient alternative fuel cars.

I did say, it would never happen, that it was to illustrate a point. The point being, kids are out riding bikes. That's good. Teaching them to ride safely is good too, probably better than haveing them wear helmets and having little to no instruction on how to ride safe.

I saw someone wearing a helmet backwards once....pretty funny :rolleyes:

Don't laugh, I almost did that for a split second when exiting SS on the way to my parked bike. Threw my helmet on only to realize, hmm feels a little weird, and noticed the visor was on the back of my head!

So you should go around flicking cigarettes out of people's mouths and ripping whoppers out of a fat person's paws and stomping on them? The idea that some bicyclist not wearing a helmet is costing YOU money is utterly ridiculous.

Exactly! If I pay MY insurance premiums, then I can do what ever the hell I want to. If that wasn't the case then my insurance would say that If I am not wearing a helmet, then they can't help me. I can't stand the argument that me getting hurt will raise your premiums. Go to Canada or some other country where medical is paid by the government through taxes if you don't like it :mad:

I can't stand the argument that me getting hurt will raise your premiums.

but that is the point. More people hurt themselves by means other than cycling everyday. Injuries to cyclists are a tiny, tiny selection of people being treated medically. People are turning a blind eye to the obvious in this pathetic argument.

Maybe I should elaborate on the point I was trying to make. I feel strongly that each individual has the right to do what they want, as long as they are willing to take full responsibility for their actions. It doesn't happen very often.

Car child seats have been proven to reduce injuries to young children in case of accident. In many states, if your child is injured to killed, the parent is charged. They are held responsible for their actions.

If there is the chance that wearing a bike helmet might prevent a severe head injury, why not wear one? Where I live, if you are indigent and you are hurt and treated at one of the local hospitals, the local county governments pick up the tab. Guess who pays for that? If you are killed and have no life insurance, who is going to take care of your children?

Following the rules of the road does greatly decrease the number of accidents. So does paying attention to what is going on around you. But I am not too arrogant to believe I will never let my mind wander or missing seeing something and that I will never have an accident – that’s why they are called that. (from Merriam-Webster: accident: an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance).

We are out there doing what we want to do: riding our bikes. However we do it (helmet or not) we are leading by example and let's be happy with that. :D

Now that I have gotten off my soapbox, I suggest we agree to disagree :)

I still like the point about wearing a helmet in the bathroom,because that's where most head injuries occur.
Why not just wear a helmet 24-7?

And taking airliners, because they are safer than cars ! :D

This is one of my major pet peeves too. It drives me nuts to see kids helmet-less, parents not practicing what they preach, or worst of all, a kid with a helmet slid all the way back onto the back of their head with their forehead completely exposed. I even saw a kid wearing one once with the strap not buckled...not quite sure what that was doing for protection. I feel naked without my helmet on, and alway strap it down so tight that if I turn my head too far, they kind of dig into my neck. I just wish that the bike paths around here were more heavily policed.

Well I don't care about what they have – or don't have – on their head. I agree that if they suffer a collision, they might be better off with a helmet than without.

On the other hand, I do care about children (and adults) riding on a sidewalk faster than walking speed, riding in circles in the street (i.e. no sense of direction), riding through stops and red lights, riding against traffic or passing on the right.

I still like the point about wearing a helmet in the bathroom,because that's where most head injuries occur.
Why not just wear a helmet 24-7?

Better yet, why not just get some metal plates surgically implanted into their skull at birth? That way, they can't forget to wear a helmet -- anywhere!

In the end, whether we like it or not, there isn't a lot you can do to make someone else wear a helmet. This country has been trying that with a mandatory helmet law for well over a decade, and it still isn't working (although they tend to put them on during magpie season -- is it any wonder?). Personally, I've made a decision to wear a helmet when I ride, but that's really all I'm concerned about. If someone else wants to make a decision not to, that's their decision. In the end, natural selection will decide whether it's wiser, and if you just let it happen, our species will become smarter as a result.

As I said earlier, if you really want kids to wear helmets, why not market helmet designs that they actually want to wear? I'm surprised that helmet manufacturers have not caught onto what could be a potentially lucrative market.

I still like the point about wearing a helmet in the bathroom,because that's where most head injuries occur.
Why not just wear a helmet 24-7?


heh, this reminds me of when I went shopping with my grandpa this past sunday. He doesn't go out very much and I guess the football shoulder pads looked kinda interesting to him. He started to ask my aunt to get him a pair and naturally she asked him why he wanted them.

his answer? "In case I fall when I'm on my morning walk!" this being said with a humongous(sp?) grin on his face :D

Not trying to make fun of my grandpa or anything, just passing on a story I thought was funny.

This safety thing can be overdone to the point where people become nancys afraid of their own damn shadows. Most people today never face danger in their lives and as a result many overeact and think things that aren't at all dangerous are.

I did not consider casual bike riding a dangerous endeavor and would no more wear a helmet when doing so than wear one when taking a walk (or driving my car). Nor did I tell my kids to wear helmets, I didn't want to encourage my kids to be nellybelles.

And any finger-wagging old schoolmarm of a fella who dares chide me or mine about helmet wearing will get an earfull right back.

Oh the cops will care eventually when a person in the local government's son or daughter gets killed or really messed up because he or she crashed their bike without a helmet.

This safety thing can be overdone to the point where people become nancys afraid of their own damn shadows. Most people today never face danger in their lives and as a result many overeact and think things that aren't at all dangerous are.

I did not consider casual bike riding a dangerous endeavor and would no more wear a helmet when doing so than wear one when taking a walk (or driving my car). Nor did I tell my kids to wear helmets, I didn't want to encourage my kids to be nellybelles.

And any finger-wagging old schoolmarm of a fella who dares chide me or mine about helmet wearing will get an earfull right back.

I can say this to be fact. If it wasn't for a helmet on multiple times I might not even be here right now. My full faced helmet has saved me from serious injury many times. I always play with danger I don't shy away from it, and to be doing what I do is downright suicidal without a helmet.

Kona---I take it you refer to mountain-biking. If so a helmet seems sensible to wear since one evidently crashes often.

I'm talking casual bike riding; toodling around town and using bike paths and such. This is NOT dangerous. I've been riding bikes such since I was 5 years old, 50 years ago, and never cracked my head. And I used to ride my bike off garage roofs and down hills on construction sites and such. Stuff that would give the smothering mothers of today's little Jonathons (anybody ever call a kid John or Jack anymore) and Kimberleys an apoplexy.

Plus remember, a little head-crackin' is good for a kid. Toughens 'em up. You don't want your sons to grow up to be milksops do'ya? ;)

Plus remember, a little head-crackin' is good for a kid. Toughens 'em up. You don't want your sons to grow up to be milksops do'ya? ;)

That's really sick.

There are two reasons I ride with a helmet these days: first, they're a lot better now than when my mom gave me a Bell Biker 1 at age 14, and two, I've gotten a lot more conscious of bad bike technique and absent minded drivers.

However, if I'm toodling along on a bike path by myself, I usually don't wear a helmet. In fact, sometimes I've even taken my helmet off after a hard ride and am warming down on the bike path, I put the helmet on my front stem.

People have given me a hard time about this. If you're tempted to tell me, or other parents what to do, I strongly advise you not too. It's really none of your business, and you'd be hard pressed to show me hard evidence that riding slowly on a bike path is risky.

That said, I have yelled at other riders on bike paths. Guess why? They're riding way too fast, ignoring the dangers to other recreational riders. Such riders frequently come equipped with annoying whistles, startling me and my children. I honestly think that such people are more problematic than kids/parents without helmets on the bike paths. Roads, ok - that might be another story. Want to go fast? Stay on the roads.

I recall one incident before I had kids when I was doing, say, 9 mph on a bike path in Boston. A guy comes barrelling by me at (his) top speed, yelling "helmet!!!" I was so startled and mad that I chased him down and cussed him out. Obviously his starting premise was that I was a lunatic for not wearing a helmet in the first place, so imagine his discomfort when I chased him down - on an old English 3-speed at that - and confronted him.

Anyway, resist any urge to comment, is my counsel. Just bask in your smug superiority, and keep riding - slowly, please, as long as you're on a bike path. Lord knows we need to encourage more families to use bike paths for recreation, and if you ride too fast and say something smart alecky to them, you're not doing much of anyone a favor.

Natural selection. I regularly ride upwards of 45mph on the road, and 30 offroad (often down sketchy single track)...so not wearing a brain bucket isn't even an option. It's saved me from severe head trauma once before when I ate a jump in a bad way, totally cracking open the helmet.

Whatever the parents want to let little Jonny or Sue do as far as wearing a helmet is their buisness. If they value their skulls though, we all know what the correct answer is.

Exactly. Similarly, I talk to people sometimes that say they don't force their kids to buckle up because the kids have a fit and complain, or they don't like helmets because they're not cool.

My kids have NEVER seen either of their parents in a car out of a driveway without seat belts. They've NEVER seen either of their parents riding a bike without a helmet. They've never ridden in a car without wearing belts, they've never ridden a bike without a helmet. It is NOT an option. The car will not move until everyone is buckled up. If you won't wear a helmet, I'm damn well selling your bike and you can walk. We'll see how "cool" that is. Way cooler than lying in a coma.

Know what? They have never complained ONCE about buckling up or wearing helmets. In fact, my 7 year old yelled at me for riding up and down the paved driveway helmetless while testing my brake adjustment earlier this year.

Kids are all about exploring limits. If they detect that you might budge on an issue, they'll never leave you alone on it. Once they realize that there is absolutely NO wiggle room in a rule, they'll find something else to bug you about.

All that said, I won't tell anyone else what to do. I weep for the kids (often literally, when I hear of a tragedy on the radio) but I figure leading by example is the best way. Occasionally I'll have a kid ask me about wearing a helmet. I generally say something along the lines of "I kind of like my brains, and feel they're worth protecting. If you don't think they're worth protecting, then riding without a helmet is OK, I guess."

I was going to respond to this topic, but John's response pretty much sums up my feelings on this word for word. :)

The only thing with wheels that I allow any of this family on without a helmet is this desk chair.

The only other thing I'll add is this: a direct confrontation on the bike path is going to get you nowhere. Things like this work for me, only because I am fairly senior in a pretty much closed society. This will change soon with my upcoming retirement. The best you could probably do is write a report to the local law enforcement agency and a letter to the editor of your local papers.

Darwin's theory was right
The smart survive, the rest? 6 feet under, fertilizer for the next crop

Don't waste your time telling them to wear a helmet

Old guy in my hood 70+ at least, full, colorful gear,fine, fine bike cost plenty. NEVER wears a helmet, blasts thru intersections, stop signs, red lights. A poster butthead for all that is wrong about riders